Washing machine



y 1945- DE LOSS D. WALLACE 2,380,090

WASHING MACHINE Filed Jun 11, 1942 .9 ,g. wddw WW ATTORNEYS NVENTOR Patented Jul 10,1945

WASHING MACHINE De Loss D. Wallace, Dayton. Ohio, assignor to The Hobart Manufacturing Company, Troy,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 11, 1942, Serial No. 446,644

3 Claims.

This invention relates to washing machines and more particularly to machines for washing dishes and the like.

It is the principal object of the invention to provide a simple, effective and reliable washing machine having rotary wash and rinse arms operable by reaction from the fluid discharged therefrom and arranged so that the rinse arm is not allowed to rest in a position where it, could cause objectionable interference with the operation of the wash arm in its discharge of washing fluid, and where during the rinsing operation the rinse arm rotates entirely out of contact with the wash arm.

It is a further object to provide a machine having inner and outer fluid distributing arms which remain free of contact with each other at all times assuring free and unobstructed rotation of the inner arm during use, and in which the dis charge of the fluid from the outer arm during operation thereof is utilized to keep the inner arm from objectionably interfering with the discharge of the fluid from the outer arm.

It is also an object to provide a machine in which the discharge from the outer or wash arm is caused to impinge in part upon a deflector or vane carried by the inner or rinse arm to keep the inner arm from objectionably interfering with discharge or spray from the operation of the wash arm and also to impart a pre-rotation to the rinse arm in the direction in which it operates during use, to thereby assure proper operation and rotation thereof.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawing, and the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a combined wash and rinse arm assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a, side elevatlonal view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a broken vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the manner of constructing and mounting the arms and the provision of the fluid deflector plate for eflecting the driving of the inner arm:

Pig. 4 is a detailed perspective view of the deflector element itself; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the construction utilized for an upper wash and rinse plied with wash fluid and the other being supplied with rinse fluid. The wash arm is adapted to supply substantially more volume of fluid than the rinse arm, and it is relatively heavier in construction. Both arms are mounted for independent rotation, and adapted to be driven as a result of the reaction from the fluid streams or jets discharged therefrom.

Because of the greater size and weight of the wash arm, it is preferred to mount the arms for separate rotation so that the lesser force developed in the use of the rinse arm will be required onl to rotate the lighter weight rinse arm, and

' not the heavier wash arm. However unless some provision is made for preventing. interference of the rinse arm during the washing period, the rinse arm may be picked up in the rotation of the wash arm and caused to revolve in such a position as to intercept the sprays from the wash arm and prevent the proper and desired action thereof.

In accordance with the present invention the inner or rinse arm is at all times free of contact with the wash arm so that during rinsing it is free to rotate without carrying with it the heavier wash arm. To avoid objectionable interference of the rinse arm with the operation of the wash arm in the discharge of the fluid sprays therefrom, a vane or deflector carried by the rinse arm ,is arranged to intercept a part of the discharge from the aperture on the wash arm which is nearest to the hub. This impinging of the wash spray upon thevane imparts rotation to the rinse'arm in a direction opposite to that of the wash arm so that the rinse arm'is not allowed to remain in a fixed position relative tothe wash sprays, which might interfere with their effectiveness, the passage of the rinse arm across the wash sprays not being objectionable in this respect. The rinse arm is arranged to rotate in operation in the opposite direction'to that of the wash arm, and hence the prerotation imparted to it during the washing operation is in the same direction as that which is continued by its own operation.

Referring to the drawing which discloses a. preferred embodiment of the invention, the wash supply casting is shown at In, and is arranged to receive asupply of wash fluid under pressure from a suitable source such as a pump operating to recirculate a body of wash fluid. The casting is formed with a central portion I I in which there is mounted an upwardly extending pin or stem l2 which serves as a bearing support for rotatably mounting the wash arm. The wash arm is indicated at I having a hub portion IS in which there is press-fitted a bronze or other suitable bearing member it having a shoulder or flanged end Ilia.

An upper bearing pin is threadedly fitted into the upper end of pin l2, and a hardened and ground stainless steel washer 22 is received between shouldered portions of the twopins and held in place thereby to provide a thrust surface for engagement with the upper end of th bushing l5, thereby taking the upward thrust of the wash arm which occurs during use and under the supply of fluid pressure thereto.

In order to prevent the chattering of the relatively short water lubricated bearing thus provided, the bearing pin I2 is undercut as shown at 25 with the undercut tapering out to the full pin diameter at a point slightly above the lower end of the bushing. It is found that with such construction, the tendency of the wash arm to chatter during use, which is otherwise sometimes encountered, is eifectively checked and eliminated.

The wash arm is provided with a series of discharge apertures or slots 26, the end slots of which are inclined as shown to cause rotation of the wash arm in a desired direction, such as the counter-clockwise direction indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 1.

The rinse arm assembly comprises a hub portion which is slidably received over the end of the upper bearing pin 20, the rinse arms 3| being removably secured in the hub by means of set-screws with lock-nuts 32 and extending outwardly therefrom. Rinse arms 3| are provided with discharge nozzles 33 through which the rinse water is discharged during use, the reaction causing the rinse arm to rotate in a direction opposite to the rotation of the wash arm, or in a clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow b inFig. 1.

A deflector plate 35 is secured to the end of hub 30 by means of a. plurality of screws 36 and the center thereof engages over a tnmcated conical tip 31 formed on the upper end of bearing pin 20 providing a thrust bearing for the rinse arm. Such construction limits the downward travel of the hub 30 and maintains it in position'for free rotation about the pin 20 in spaced relation with the thrust collar 22, and complete- 1y out of contact with all portions of the wash arm. The rinse liquid is supplied through passage 40 in the casting l0, and through the communicating passages 4| in pins l2 and 20, to be discharged into annular space 42 in the hub 30,

and from there into the respective rinse arms for discharge therefrom. Preferably one or more apertures 43 are formed in the central portion of the deflector 35 to permit free escape of any rinse liquid which finds its way into this space at the top of bearing pin 20, to avoid building up a pressure in this space which might tend to lift the rinse arm away from its seat.

Deflector member 35 has extended wing or vane portions which are inclined as shown and which have proper radial dimensions so that they are in position to intercept a portion of the wash liquid discharged from the innermost apertures in the wash arm. Thus during supply of wash fluid to the wash arm, and the consequent rotation of the wash arm in a counter-clockwise direction, fluid will be projected from the wash arms and will periodically impinge upon the vane surfaces 50 and keep the rinse arm from remaining in a fixed position relative to the wash arm where it would interfere with the wash sprays. The direction of this force is such that the reaction tends to rotate the deflector member and the entire rinse arm assembly in the opposite direction, rotation thus being imparted to the rinse arm in a clockwise direction. Because it is in rotation in a direction opposite to that of the wash arm, assurance is provided that it will not be carried around with the wash arm and retained in a position where it might create interference with the sprays or jets produced in the operation of the wash arm, such momentary interruption of the wash sprays as occurs when the rinse arm crosses the stream being unobjectionable.

As a result of the supply of wash fluid to the wash arm, therefore, the rinse arm is placed in rotation, and in the same sense or direction in which it isrotated under supply of rinse fluid thereto. This imparting of prerotation to the rinse arm is desirabl as assuring that it will quickly rotate upon supply of rinse fluid thereto and provide for proper distribution of the rinse fluid to and upon the articles to be washed. Where the machine is operated in a normal manner, with the wash operation being followed promptly by the supply of rinse fluid, the motion of the rinse arm is continuous, and does not need to be initiated by the supply of rinse fluid thereto. Even where a period of time elapses between the wash and the rinse operations, such as to permit the rinse arm to come to rest, it will readily commence rotation inasmuch as it remains entirely free of contact with any portion of the wash arm, and hence only the relatively light weight rinse arm need be placed in motion.

The invention has been shown and described primarily with reference to a construction in which the wash arm assembly is positioned in the lower part of the washing chamber for directing the sprays of wash fluid upwardly upon the articles to be washed. It will be seen however that the same construction may be used with similar advantages at the top portion of a washing chamber, to direct the wash sprays downwardly upon the upper side of the articles to be washed, the thrust bearing member 31' in this case being in the form of a shouldered pin threaded into the member 20, as shown in Fig. 5, the collar 22 forming a thrust bearing for the wash arm. The invention thus provides a highly satisfactory, simple, and reliable mechanism for washing articles such as dishes in which assurance is provided for securing the proper unobstructed operation of the wash sprays without objectionable interference from a rinse arm, and with the rinse arm left entirely free and out of contact with the wash arm so that when fluid is supplied to the rinse arm, it will rotate readily and freely, assuring proper distribution of fluid therefrom. The construction embodies no moving partsto secure the desired drive of one arm in relation to the other, and thus avoids any necessity for use or maintenance of such operating mechanism.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a dish washing machine of the character described, inner and outer arms adapted to be connected respectively to separate sources of fluid supply for distributing said fluid to and upon the dishes to be washed, means for independently mounting said arms to provide for separate rotation thereof in response to the supply of'fluid into each of said arms, said arms having discharge jets therein arranged so that the supply of fluid to said arms produces opposite rotation thereof by reaction, and fluid deflector means carried by the inner of said arms and adapted to be impinged by the stream of fluid discharged from a jet of the outer of said arms during rotation of the latter to cause rotation of said inner arm in a direction opposite to that of the outer arm prior to supply of fluid to said inner arm.

2. In a dish washing machine of the character described, an inner rinse arm and an outer wash arm adapted to be connected respectively to separate sources of fluid supply for distributing said fluid to and upon the dishes to be washed, means for mounting said arms coaxially for rotation independently of each other, said arms having 20 jets thereon arranged to cause rotation thereof in opposite directions under the reaction produced by the supply of fluid thereto respectively, and means carried by said rinse arm in the path of a portion of the fluid projected by said wash arm for causing rotation of said rinse arm in a direction opposite to said wash arm during supply of fluid to said wash arm to prevent interference of said rinse arm with the sprays discharged during the operation of said wash arm.

3. In a dish washing machine of the character described, an inner rinse arm and an outer wash arm adapted to be connected respectively to separate sources of fluid supply for distributing said fluid to and upon the dishes to be washed, means for mounting said arms coaxially for rotation independently of each other, said arms having jets thereon arranged to cause rotation thereof in opposite directions under the reaction produced by the supply of fluid thereto respectively, and means carried by said rinse arm in the path of a portion of the fluid projected by said wash arm for preventing the rinse arm from remainingin fixed interfering relation with respect to the wash arm during supply of fluid to said wash arm to prevent interference of said rinse arm with the sprays discharged during the operation of said wash 'arm.

DE LOSS D. WALLACE. 

